Electronic device with reflective panel

ABSTRACT

An electronic device such as a portable phone has a casing, a display element provided in the casing, and a panel attached to the casing to cover the display element. A half mirror layer and a shading layer are formed on the panel. An opening of the shading layer is above the display element. The surface of the panel is seen in a substantially continuously uniform color when no electricity is supplied to the display element, and a display produced by the display element can be seen through the panel when electricity is supplied to the display element.

This application is a divisional of U.S. patent application Ser. No.10/291,403, filed Nov. 12, 2002. This application is based upon andclaims priority from Japanese application no. 2002-106607 filed Apr. 9,2002, the contents being incorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to an electronic device having a displaypart.

2. Description of the Related Art

An electronic device, for example, a portable phone, has a display partand push buttons. There is a portable phone having a first display partand a second display part. For Example, the first display partcomprising a liquid crystal display device or the like is provided onone side of the casing of the portable phone, and the second displaypart comprising an organic EL (electroluminescence), an LED or a liquidcrystal display device is provided on the other side of the casing. Fora foldable portable phone, the first display part is provided on theinner side of the casing and the second display part is provided on theouter side of the casing, that is, on a surface opposite to a surface onwhich switch keys are provided. In this case, the second display partcan be seen with the portable phone in folded condition.

As a prior art using an organic EL for example, Japanese UnexaminedPatent Publication (Kohyo) No. 2001-519585 discloses an example in whichan EL is provided on the casing of the portable phone. JapaneseUnexamined Patent Publication (Kokai) No. 5-312970 discloses a timepiece having a luminous dial using a half mirror and an organic EL. ELstands for an electroluminescence.

The portable phone is carried by its user, so the feature of an outwardlooking is important, and, it is important for a portable phone to havean interesting appearance and to make its user feel an attachment to theportable phone. Therefore, it is preferable for the display part, whichis provided on the outer surface of the portable phone, to have anoutstanding design and features which appeal to its user.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The object of the present invention is to provide an electronic devicehaving a unique feature in appearance.

An electronic device according to the present invention comprises acasing, a display element provided into the casing, and a panel attachedto the casing to cover the display element, wherein the arrangement issuch that the surface of the panel can be seen in a substantiallycontinuously uniform color when no electricity is supplied to thedisplay element, a display produced by the display element can be seenthrough the panel when electricity is supplied to the display element.

In this structure, when the display element is not used, the panelsurface which is located on the outer surface side of the electronicdevice exhibits a substantially continuously uniform color as if thedisplay part does not exist. On the other hand, when the display elementis used, it seems that a display appears suddenly on the panel surfaceon which nothing had existed. Therefore, when a display appears on thepanel surface, a user is given a deeper impression and surprises for thesudden indication. This display is outstanding in its design, or hasappealing features for its user in a point that a display suddenlyappears in an empty area. Because a boundary line outlining a displayarea of the display is not visible, and only the display can be seen,the above mentioned effect remarkably stands out.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present invention will become more apparent from the followingdescription of the preferred embodiments, with referring to theaccompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a portable phone of an embodimentof the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the portable phone of FIG. 1 in theopened condition;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the first casing and the panel of theportable phone of FIGS. 1 and 2;

FIG. 4 is a plan view schematically showing the first casing of FIGS. 1to 3;

FIG. 5 is a plan view schematically showing the first casing when the ELis energized;

FIG. 6 is a sectional view taken along the line VI-VI in FIG. 4;

FIG. 7 is a sectional view of the panel;

FIG. 8 is a sectional view of a modified example of the panel of FIG. 7;and

FIG. 9 is a sectional view of a modified example of the panel of FIG. 7.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Embodiments of the present invention will be explained below withreference to the attached drawings. FIG. 1 is a perspective view of afoldable portable phone according to an embodiment of the presentinvention. FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the portable phone of FIG. 1in an opened state. FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the first casing andthe panel of the portable phone of FIGS. 1 and 2.

The portable phone 10 shown in FIGS. 1 to 3 as an example of anelectronic device is a foldable portable phone comprising a first casing12 and a second casing 14 pivotally coupled to each other. The firstcasing 12 has a display part 16 on its inner side and a second displaypart 18 on its outer side. The second casing 14 has push buttons 20 andother operation means. In the embodiment, the first display part 16includes a liquid crystal display device, and the second display part 18includes an organic EL (electroluminescence).

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, the first casing 12 includes a panel 22. Thesecond display part 18 includes an EL (EL module) 24, which is providedin the first casing 12, and the panel 22 is attached to the outersurface side of the first casing 12 so as to cover the EL 24. Thesurface of the panel 22 is seen in a substantially continuously uniformcolor, and the second display part 18 is not normally seen, so it isrepresented by a broken line in FIG. 1. The second display 18 part has adisplay area 18 a, but the border line which defines the display area 18a is not normally seen.

FIG. 4 is a plan view schematically showing the first casing 12 of FIGS.1 to 3. FIG. 4 shows the first casing 12 when electricity is notsupplied to the EL 24. FIG. 5 is a plan view schematically showing thefirst casing 12 of FIG. 4 when electricity is supplied to the EL 24.

FIG. 6 is a sectional view taken along the line VI-VI in FIG. 4. Thefirst casing 12 includes a printed circuit board 26 to which the EL 24is connected. An LED 28 is arranged in the first casing 12 at a distancefrom the EL 24 and is connected to the printed circuit board 26. Aninfrared light communication device 30 is arranged in the first casing12 on the opposite side of the LED 28 with respect to the EL 24 and isconnected to the printed circuit board 26.

FIG. 7 is a sectional view of the panel 22. In FIGS. 6 and 7, the panel22 comprises a transparent plate 32, a half mirror layer 34 provided onthe upper surface of the transparent plate 32, and a shading layer 36provided on the lower surface of the transparent plate 32. Thetransparent plate 32 is formed by plastic injection molding and has aflat surface or a curved surface. An opening 36 a is provided in theshading layer 36 above the EL 24. The display area 18 a is defined bythe EL 24. The opening 36 a of the shading layer 36 is as large as theEL 24, or is a little smaller than the EL 24. The top surface 24 a ofthe EL 24 is subjected to a blacking treatment (for example, a polarizeris provided).

The shading layer 36 has another opening 36 b provided above the LED 28.A diffusion layer 38 is provided at the opening 36 b of the shadinglayer 36. Another shading layer 40 is provided on the half mirror layer34 to cover the LED 28. The shading layer 40 has a light perviousportion 40 a having a predetermined shape. The light pervious portion 40a is an opening corresponding to a removed portion of a printingmaterial when the shading layer 40 is printed or a pervious printingportion provided at such opening. In example shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, thelight transmitting portion 40 a is formed as a plus (+) shape mark.

The half mirror layer 34 comprises a vapor deposition layer (forexample, a multi-layered dielectric layer). A light component havingpredetermined wavelengths made incident to the half mirror layer 34 isreflected by the half mirror layer 34, and the light component withremaining wavelengths passes through the half mirror layer 34. Theshading layer 40 is formed by a black silk printing. The shading layer40 can be made of any material that can cut off visible light. However,it is preferable that the shading layer 40 be made of a material whichpermits infrared light to pass through, because an additional infraredfilter is not necessary for the infrared light communication device 30.Namely, if the shading layer 40 is provided to cover the infrared lightcommunication device 30, infrared radiation I emitted from the infraredlight communication device 30 or made incident to the infrared lightcommunication device 30, can pass through the shading layer 40, however,visible light is intercepted by the shading layer 40, so that no visiblelight enters the infrared light communication device 30.

Light with predetermined wavelengths made incident from the outside ofthe first casing 12 to the half mirror layer 34 is reflected by the halfmirror layer 34, as shown by the arrow A in FIG. 6. The light with otherwavelengths made incident to the half mirror layer 34 passes through thehalf mirror layer 34 but is absorbed by the shading layer 36. Lightwhich passes through the half mirror layer 34 and the opening 36 a ofthe shading layer 36 is absorbed by the black surface 24 a of the EL 24.

Accordingly, most of the light which passes through the half mirrorlayer 34 is wholly absorbed so that shape of an object cannot be seen bythe transmitting light. Thus, a person who sees the outer surface of thepanel 22 of the first casing sees reflected light at the half mirrorlayer 34. Namely, when the EL 24 is not energized, the surface of thepanel 22 provided on the outer surface side of the portable phone 10 isseen in a substantially continuously uniform color. This situation isshown in FIG. 4.

When the EL 24 is energized, light emitted by the EL 24 is strong enoughto pass through the black portion on the surface 24 of the EL 24 andexit out of the panel 22 via the opening 36 a of the shading layer 36.Namely, when the EL 24 is energized, a display 42 produced by the EL 24can be seen through the panel 22. This is shown in FIG. 5. The display42 indicates a pattern of a person's face in FIG. 5, however, thedisplay 42 is not limited to such example. For example, the display 42can be letters, numbers or other marks. Moreover, the display 42 can bean indication of a telephone call or an indication of a time.

As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, when the EL (display element) is not used,the surface of the panel 22 provided on the surface of the portablephone is seen in a substantially continuously uniform color as if thesecond display part 18 does not exist. On the other hand, when the EL(display element) 24 is used, a user can be impressed that the display42 appears suddenly on the panel surface 22 on which nothing hadexisted. Therefore, when the display appears on the panel surface 22, auser is given a deeper impression and surprise by the sudden display 42.This display is outstanding in its design, or has appealing features forits user in the point that a display appears suddenly at an empty area.Because a boundary line outlining a display area of the display is notvisible, (namely, a display frame of the second display part 18 isinvisible,) and only the display can be seen, the above mentioned effectremarkably stands out.

The wavelength characteristics of the light reflected by the half mirrorlayer 34 can be optionally selected according to a method for forming avapor evaporation layer. In order for the display 42 to be seen moreconspicuously, it is preferable that the wavelength of the reflectedlight by the half mirror 34 does not overlap with that of the emittedlight from the EL 24. Table 1 below shows the relationship between thecolor and the wavelength of the light reflected by the half mirror layer34 and those of the light emitted from the EL 24. Visibility isrepresented by a circular symbol, a triangular symbol and a crosssymbol. If 70% or more light passes through the EL 24, the visibility isrepresented by the circular symbol. The visibility represented by thecircular symbol means that a good display 42 can be obtained. In thecase of the visibility represented by the triangular symbol, the display42 can be obtained but there is a possibility that the color may changefrom an intended color. TABLE 1 Panel Dichroic Color and Item Wavelengthnm EL Color and Visibility 1 Violet Red 380 Blue {circle around (8)}˜xHalf mirror: Green ▪ Low Yellow ▪ Orange ▪ 2 Blue 450 Blue {circlearound (8)}˜x Half mirror: Green ▪ Low Yellow ▪ Orange ▪ 3 Yellow 550Blue ▪ Half mirror: Green {circle around (8)}˜x High Yellow {circlearound (8)}˜x Orange ▪ 4 Orange 650 Blue ▪ Half mirror: Green ▪ HighYellow ▪ Orange {circle around (8)}˜x

The reflectance of the half mirror layer 34 is maximum at the incidentangle of approximately 45° to the half mirror layer 34. Therefore, thereflectance when the portable phone 10 is seen from the front is higherthan that when it is viewed from the lateral side. Accordingly, if aperson other than the user looks at the portable phone 10, the display42 is hard to see because he/she sees strong reflected light, andtherefore, information is not revealed to a person other than the user.

When the LED 28 is energized, light emitted from LED 28 passes throughthe diffusion layer 38 provided at the opening 36 of the shading layer36, and exits to the outside of the panel 22 through the light perviousportion 40 a of the shading layer 40. If the light pervious portion 40 aof the shading layer 40 is formed in the plus (+) shape, a plus (+)shaped mark is irradiated by light so that the user sees such mark.

The light, which passes through the diffusion layer 38, not only movesin the direction perpendicular to the panel 22 and irradiates the lightpervious portion 40 a of the shading layer 40, as mentioned above, butalso a part of the light moves in the slanting direction with respect tothe panel 22 and collides against the shading layer 40. Light whichcollides against the shading layer 40 is reflected by the shading layer40, further reflected by the shading layer 36 and reaches the regionaround the shading layer 40 to irradiate the region surrounding theshading layer 40. The region 44 around the shading layer 40 irradiatedin this manner is shown in FIG. 5.

In this way, illumination effect is improved, since the plus (+) shapedmark corresponding to the light pervious portion 40 a of the shadinglayer 40 is illuminated and the region 44 around the shading layer 40 isilluminated. The illumination of the region 44 around the shading layer40 is useful particularly when the portable phone 10 is used in a darkplace.

It is preferable that the wavelength of the reflected light by the halfmirror 34 is shifted from that of the emitted light from the LED 28.Table 2 below shows the relationship between the color and centralwavelength of light reflected by the half mirror layer 34 and those ofthe, identically light emitted from the LED 28. visibility isrepresented same to Table 1, by a circular symbol, a triangular symboland a cross symbol. In this case, the colors of the plus (+) shaped markand of the illumination of the region 44 of the shading layer 40 can bedeliberately changed according to the relationship between wavelength ofthe emitted light from the LED 28 and that of the light reflected by thehalf mirror layer 34. TABLE 2 Panel Dichroic Color and LED emittingcolor and Item Wavelength nm Visibility 1 Violet Red 380 Blue {circlearound (8)}˜x Half mirror: Green ▪ Low Red ▪ 2 Blue 450 Blue {circlearound (8)}˜x Half mirror: Green ▪ Low Red ▪ 3 Yellow 550 Blue ▪ Halfmirror: Green {circle around (8)}˜x High Red ▪ 4 Orange 650 Blue ▪ Halfmirror: Green ▪ High Red {circle around (8)}˜x

FIG. 8 is a sectional view showing a modified example of the panel 22 ofFIG. 7. The basic structure of the panel 22 of FIG. 8 is similar to thebasic structure of the panel 22 of FIG. 7. However, in FIG. 8, the halfmirror layer 34 is provided on the lower surface of the transparentplate 32, and the shading layer 36 is provided on the lower surface ofthe half mirror layer 34. The mode of operation in the modified exampleis the same as that mentioned above explained.

FIG. 9 is a sectional view of a modified example of the panel 22 of FIG.8. The basic structure of the panel 22 of FIG. 9 is similar to the basicstructure of the panel 22 of FIG. 7. However, in FIG. 9, the half mirrorlayer 34 has an opening 34 a corresponding to the light pervious portion40 a of the shading layer 40. The mode of operation in the modifiedexample is the same as that mentioned above explained.

As explained above, according to the present invention, an electronicdevice having a unique feature in appearance can be obtained. Inparticular, if the present invention is applied to a display element ofa foldable portable phone formed on a surface opposite to a surface onwhich a switch key is formed, required information can be obtained evenin a closed state.

1. An electronic device comprising: a casing including a half mirrorportion reflecting light having a certain wavelength, and a shadingportion shading light in which an opening is partially formed thereon;and a display element disposed in the casing at a portion where theopening is formed.
 2. The electronic device according to claim 1,wherein: an absorbing portion capable of absorbing light is disposed atleast at a portion of the casing where the opening is formed.
 3. Theelectronic device according to claim 1, wherein: the half mirror portionis uniformly disposed on a surface of an external casing forming aportion of the casing.
 4. The electronic device according to claim 3,wherein: the half mirror portion is a coating layer that is formed onthe surface of the external casing.
 5. The electronic device accordingto claim 3, wherein: the external casing is formed by a transparentmaterial.
 6. The electronic device according to claim 1, wherein: theshading portion is uniformly disposed on a surface of an external casingforming a portion of the casing.
 7. The electronic device according toclaim 6, wherein: the shading portion is a layer that is formed on thesurface of the external casing.
 8. The electronic device according toclaim 6, wherein: the external casing is formed by a transparentmaterial.
 9. An electronic device comprising: a casing; an electroniccomponent disposed within the casing; a display element disposed withinthe casing; and a cover covering at least a portion of the casing wherethe display element is disposed therein, wherein a half mirror layer isformed on a surface of the cover, and the half mirror layer reflectslight having a predetermined wavelength and transmits light having awavelength other than the predetermined wavelength.
 10. The electronicdevice according to claim 9, wherein: a panel is disposed on the displayelement, wherein the panel is capable of absorbing light entered intothe electronic device through the cover.
 11. The electronic deviceaccording to claim 9, wherein: a shading layer is formed on a surface ofthe cover, and an opening is formed in a portion of the shading layerwhere the display element is disposed hereunder.
 12. The electronicdevice according to claim 11, wherein: the half mirror layer is formedon a first surface of the cover, while the shading layer is formed on asecond surface of the cover.
 13. The electronic device according toclaim 9, wherein: a wavelength of light that is reflected by the halfmirror layer is different from a wavelength of light that is emittedfrom the display element.